


A Song Without Sound

by Bookfish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ASL, Alternate Universe, Background Implied Shallura, Boys Kissing, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Lance has a secret, Lance is here to save the day, Lance's Sister - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Mates, Mating Bond, Mer keith, Mute Keith, Possible Langst, Scientist Shiro, Sign Language, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), mermaid au, siren keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-12 16:33:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13551267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookfish/pseuds/Bookfish
Summary: When Marine Biologist Takashi Shirogane asked for help, Lance, the mermaid expert, traveled from Cuba to offer his services. The last thing he expected to find himself facing was a mute Siren. A really attractive mute Siren called Keith.Important Note:I started writing this when I was new to the fandom and didn't know Allura is supposed to be 18 or younger. So I do apologize if the extremely mild background Shallura offends anyone. She is meant to be similar in age to Shiro in this fic. I won't remove it from the fic because it was relevant to discussion in-fic about how romance works for mermaids vs humans... but it won't be expanded on in future chapters and I intend to avoid writing any Sh@ladin in the future.





	1. Chapter 1

“So… when you say problem mermaid. What kind of problem are we talking about?” Running fingers through his short brown hair, Lance studied the expression of the marine biologist. 

“You’ll see what I mean.” Takashi Shirogane hadn’t exactly been very forthcoming thus far. He’d contacted Lance’s mother’s facility for a mermaid expert… but now that Lance had arrived, he wasn’t offering much in the way of helpful information. 

The hum of the boat’s motor wasn’t exactly comforting, not when Lance’s mind was spinning with possibilities. Was it a violent mermaid? A mermaid that had been accidentally domesticated and couldn’t survive alone? He eyed the covered bucket that Dr. Shirogane had brought with them suspiciously. Was this marine biologist feeding the mermaid? Because if he was, that would make an already docile mermaid even less likely to learn to care for itself. “I’d just like to know what I’m dealing with… I might be an expert… but you’re the one who has been observing the mermaid. I need to know what exactly is troubling about them.” 

As the boat glided to a stop and the motor died down before cutting out completely, Dr. Shirogane glanced at Lance. “Listen. Your mom says she trusts you the most out of all of her workers… and for that reason, I’m choosing to trust you. But… He has more than one… problem. And I’m not sure how much you can fix.” 

“It depends.” Lance glanced out at the water. “Like I asked… what kind of problems are we talking about? Unusual aggression? Is the mermaid hurting themself somehow? The fact you’ve observed them at all is worrisome… because mermaid are usually extremely…!” His words were abruptly cut off as the boat jolted and then rocked. 

“Keith…” Dr. Shirogane sighed and leaned over the edge of the boat. His grip on the edge of the boat was enough warning for Lance to get his own solid grip before the boat was jostled violently a second time. “Keith!” Irritation leaked into the biologist’s voice and clearly that was enough of a cue for the mermaid to show themself.

Lance felt whatever he’d been planning to say die in his throat when the Siren erupted from the water and balanced himself with his forearms over the edge of the boat. Keen violet eyes fixed on Lance immediately, crimson ear fins dropping back as the Siren bared his teeth in a silent snarl of aggression. Which was… concerning. Lance’s gaze dropped to the Siren’s throat and picked out the faint scar on the pale skin there. A mute siren. Well… this was a whole different kettle of fish than what he’d been expecting. 

“You… could’ve warned me he was a siren.” Lance managed to say, resisting his instincts that screamed at him to bare his teeth back at the Siren. 

Dr. Shirogane looked surprised at that. “A Siren?” 

Exhaling slowly, Lance crept across the boat to put himself in the Siren’s space. Holding up one hand to tell the biologist to wait, he slowly brought his face up to the Siren’s face. “Hi.” The one word came out with a heavy breath and was followed by a long inhale. At first, the Siren remained tense, until recognition flickered across his face… the realization dawning that he’d just been greeted in the traditional fashion of mermaids. Then, he exhaled heavily on Lance’s face in return, before inhaling slowly. Curiosity crept into the violet gaze after he breathed in Lance’s scent. Lance smiled warmly and moved back out of the Siren’s space. “You don’t know the types of mermaids?” 

“Um… no. Keith is the only mermaid I’ve ever seen.” Dr. Shirogane admitted slowly. 

Lance snorted softly. “Did you name him?” 

Dr. Shirogane looked embarrassed. “Yeah. When I was younger.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Lance turned himself towards the biologist. “I want the whole story. From the beginning.”

“Okay.” Dr. Shirogane relaxed slowly and Keith settled more comfortably against the side of the boat, observing them both with interested eyes. “My father and I found him… when he was a guppy. He had a fish hook caught in his throat… and he was alone. So, we did our best to rescue him. We thought if we helped him heal up, he’d be fine to be released back into the ocean. But…” He gestured towards the crimson colored Siren. “He never left. I started researching mermaids to see if it was normal… but… as far as I can tell he’s not even a little bit normal by mermaid standards. He can’t hunt, he doesn’t have a den, he just lingers around waiting for me to bring the boat out and then follows me around.” Running a hand through his hair, the biologist glanced over at the Siren. “The only good progress I’ve been able to make is to teach him sign language. And even that… sometimes he chooses to converse with me and sometimes he just gives me the silent treatment.” 

Rubbing his chin, Lance studied the Siren. It was a little unnerving, the way the Siren stared back at him expectantly. “Sirens are the most reclusive mermaids. The fact he hangs around you… He must’ve imprinted on you when you saved him.” 

“Imprinted?” 

“Mer guppies… usually imprint on the first person they see. Their mother normally. Or an older sibling. It’s a special bond.” Lance’s hands twirled loosely as he spoke. “For mermaid family groups, imprinting is very important. Because whichever member of the family the guppy imprints on, becomes immediately their favorite family member. The one who will teach the guppy normal mer-behaviours. How to make a den, how to hunt, how to weather a storm… imprinting on a human… he’s learned his behaviours from you… which means, he might already be too late to learn how to be normal.” 

Dr. Shirogane sighed heavily. “I was afraid it would be too late. There were so many times I almost called… but lately he’s getting worse. I can’t come out here all the time… and when I don’t come, he harrasses the boats in the area or threatens to beach himself until I come.”

“He’s lonely.” Lance said softly. “Even Sirens usually have pods. Small ones. But still…” Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, he pondered what his mother would do. “We have a pod in Cuba. It’s big… but… we… they might be able to help him.” 

“Cuba is so far.” Worry lined the biologist’s expression as he looked at his Siren friend.

It was then that Keith’s hands flew into action, signing at Shirogane in a flurry. _I want to go with him._

Leaning forward slightly, Lance watched the hands in motion. “What did he say?” 

“He’s willing to go… to Cuba with you.” 

Leaning back, Lance relaxed slightly. “I need to call my mother. See what she thinks. But… I think she’ll agree… I think she’ll think this is the best course of action. Few mermaids relocate that kind of distance easily… but, it’s his…” He stopped himself and focused on Keith. “It’s your best shot.” 

Keith smiled, something knowing shining in his eyes, as he signed to Shirogane. _He’s very good at pretending to be human._

Shirogane made a choked sound. “What?” Lance raised an eyebrow, looking between the pair. 

“It’s nothing.” Wheezed the biologist, around his surprised expression.

“Ookay.” He wasn’t convinced… but the way Keith was smirking told him it wasn’t nothing.

“Let’s head back so you can call your mother.” Shirogane smiled at Keith. “We’ll see you later, buddy. Maybe it’ll be with some good news.”

Keith cast one final smirk in Lance’s direction before letting go of the boat and disappearing into the water below. Oh yup… Lance was definitely fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance talks to his Mamá.

It wasn’t until they got back to the docks that Lance remembered the closed bucket in the boat. He glanced at it, wondering again what was inside. If it was food for Keith, had Shirogane forgotten? It worried him. The possibility that Shirogane’s words were true… that Keith couldn’t hunt for himself. A small thread of worry wormed its way into Lance’s gut. Maybe that was why when he stood up to get off the boat he intentionally bumped the bucket with his food, making a dull thump. He pretended to not see the way Shirogane’s eyes flickered to the bucket, the worry that sprang to the biologist’s expression. When Shirogane tossed him a house key and made up some excuse about needing to check equipment he didn’t ask any questions. He climbed out of the boat and trudged to the house… he had a phone call to make.

The phone rang several times before a familiar voice answered. “Lance?” 

“ _Mamá_ , it’s bad.” The cool pressure of his cellphone against his ear was reassuring… but it couldn’t stop his mind from drawing up images of violet eyes and a silent smirk. 

“How bad?” 

Exhaling slowly, he spoke carefully. “Doctor Shirogane has a Siren here… he’s imprinted on Shirogane, _Mamá_. He’s alone. I can’t… I can’t leave him here.” 

“A solitary Siren?” He could hear the worry in his mother’s voice. Even Sirens don’t live alone. They’re reclusive. Dangerous. But not solitary. 

“Yes. Shirogane tells me he was injured as a guppy… he’s mute. But he’s imprinted on Shirogane and seems… attached.” Lance sighed quietly. “It’s bad. He doesn’t seem to be able to care for himself. Without a pod… if something happens… if he ever ends up alone.” He fell silent… letting the unspoken hang between them like a hangman’s noose. 

“What are you going to do?”

Lance fidgeted silently for a moment, before speaking again. “Could we bring him to Cuba? To the pod? With others, he might be able to survive… he might be able to learn.” 

“Lance… A Siren in a pod of Tropicals? It’s a recipe for disaster.” 

“But, _Mamá_ , Hunk’s in the pod and he’s not a Tropical.”

“That’s different.” His mother sounded exasperated. “You and I both know… there’s a difference between a Nomad and a Siren.” 

Lance turned and meandered from the entryway into the living room. “Yes… but if we don’t find Keith a pod…” He cut himself off and forged ahead. “He’s willing to give it a try. To come to Cuba and try being in a pod. Can’t we try?”

“ _Mi hijo._ Think about this carefully.” Her voice was placating… but he could tell she was still trying to tell him no. “Sirens… don’t usually mix with other types of mermaid. You have a good heart, Lance… but this might be a lost cause.”

“No.” Lance tried to contain the anger, but in its place his voice came out full of pain. “I can’t leave someone to die… not even a Siren. Shirogane can’t give him what he needs. We can. Please, _Mamá_ , we have to try… we have to at least try.”

Her sigh was tired. “I will think about it. And ask the pod. Until then… try to help him without revealing yourself.” 

“Yeah… I’ll do my best.” It worried him. Already he could feel the ache in his bones… the whisper of his body telling him that he couldn’t resist his own nature for long. But he had to. Shirogane couldn’t know. “I’ll call you tomorrow… let you know how things are going.”

“Alright, _mi hijo._ Be safe.” 

“Bye, _Mamá_.”

When Shirogane returned shortly after with an empty bucket and damp clothes, Lance didn’t ask any questions. After dinner, he settled into the silence of the guest room and listened to the distant pounding of the waves on the beach. He could imagine himself back home… in his mother’s beach home. It was easy to summon up the images of his siblings heads bobbing in the waves, to imagine himself running across the sand and into the waves to join them. As he drifted into sleep, his subconscious carried the familiar images along with him into his dreams. The only difference was… in his dreams… there was a crimson tail and violet eyes teasing him from just behind familiar coral reefs, always slipping just out of his reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is really short, I know. But that's mostly because I wanted this conversation to not get jumbled into anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets introduced to apples. Lance learns a little more about Keith.

When morning rolled around, Shirogane woke Lance up to tell him he was going out to work and would be back in the early evening. Which meant Lance had the house to himself. This was good, he could linger in bed a while longer, listening to Shirogane’s car start up outside and drive away. In those lazy moments, waiting to be sure the coast was clear, he could catch just a couple blinks of extra sleep.

It took a good hour for him to truly wake up. The dimly lit numbers on the digital clock face letting him watch the time pass until he finally woke up enough to sit up. He felt strange, being alone. Back home, he usually woke up to the sounds of his siblings, cousins, and extended family scrambling around and shouting. Running fingers through his hair, he realized reluctantly that he needed to wash his hair. On the bright side, Shirogane being at work meant he could clean himself without anyone potentially barging in on him. 

Shuffling into the bathroom, he turned on the water and ran his fingers under it. When he felt the tug of the water on his skin, he let out a disappointed sound. Of course… it was still so close to ocean water that he couldn’t just shower and have it over with. Instead, he had to fill the tub and then cautiously ease himself into the water. It was an awful feeling, easing himself into the water and feeling his magic slip through his fingers like the floor falling out from under his feet. It took several minutes of sitting still in the water to reorient himself. Washing his hair was tedious, and scrubbing his skin was a challenge from his sitting position, but he did the best he could and then rinsed himself before draining the tub. 

Losing the water from the tub was just as disorienting as going into it had been. He had to sit there, shivering in the bathroom air, waiting for his magic to work its way back into his grasp so he could have the control to stand up again. Even once he was back on his feet, he had to lean against the tile wall and breathe for a while before he could climb out of the tub and grab a towel. Cursing under his breath, he dried off and worked his way through some basic skincare before throwing on clothes and heading for Shirogane’s kitchen. 

His options for breakfast turned out to be relatively limited, but he settled for cereal and a glass of orange juice. Straightforward enough. While he was eating, a bowl of fruit on the counter caught his eye. Shiny green apples, acceptably yellow bananas, and a couple oranges taunted him. Instinct kicked in and he reached out and took an apple, tucking it into his pocket without a second thought. When he was done, he cleaned up after himself and then grabbed a handful of his important things: phone, wallet, pocket knife… tucking them into the pockets of his cargo shorts absentmindedly. 

The walk to the beach was satisfyingly short, and when he arrived, his gaze immediately turned to the sand. Analyzing eyes knew exactly what he was looking for before he even spotted the first signs of what he wanted. There. Crouching down in the shallow water, he dug quickly with one hand until his fingers found the hard edge of an oyster shell. “Gotcha.” He murmured to himself, lifting it out of the hole and looking it over with an appraising eye. It wasn’t that big, but it was an acceptable size for eating. 

A noisy splashing sound at his side made Lance jolt and lose his balance, falling butt first into the salt water. “Keith!” He whined. Great, now his clothes were soaked. 

The crimson-scaled siren didn’t look the slightest bit sorry for startling Lance. No, in fact, he looked rather smug about it. Keith smirked at Lance and then settled his elbows into the sand in the shallow water beneath him, folding one hand over the other so he could settle his chin on his hands and watch Lance stumble to his feet, spluttering angrily about being startled into falling over. 

Lance huffed at the siren. “You shouldn’t be in such shallow water.” 

Keith rolled his eyes as if to say _I know my limits_ but then scooched further back into the water so that at least his tail was fully submerged. 

“Here. I brought you breakfast.” Lance pulled out the apple he’d grabbed during breakfast and held it out to Keith. “I figure you could use it.” He glanced the siren over. “You’re kinda thin.” In truth, the siren was a lot smaller than he was used to with mermaids. Not unhealthily smaller… but still… small enough that he worried. 

Keith huffed in response to the suggestion that he was thin, but took the green apple from Lance and sniffed it curiously. So, maybe Shirogane hadn’t done a good job of giving Keith a good food variety. That was probably to be expected. Most humans didn’t know that mermaids could eat human food. Though it was likely that by this point, Keith was at the very least lactose intolerant since he’d likely never touched dairy in his life. It was a shame, but liveable. 

Lance found himself watching a little too closely when Keith took his first bite of the apple. He had to laugh when Keith’s mouth puckered up and he drew back from the apple abruptly, startled by the sour flavor. _He has nice lips_. Lance noticed, and then silently dismissed the intrusive thought. He was _not_ going to think about the siren like that.

“It’s just sour.” He chuckled softly, making Keith shoot him a glare before the siren took a bite again, this time soldiering through the sour flavor. Lance still had to laugh when Keith’s face puckered up a little from having taken such a large bite of the apple. “Not a fan?” 

Keith shrugged.

“If you’re not a fan, I can get you something else to eat.” He offered. 

Shaking his head sharply, Keith took another, smaller, bite. 

“Alright. Okay. Eat the apple, then.” Lance put up his hands in surrender, ignoring the tugging feeling in his chest when he watched Keith eat the apple. 

They settled into a comfortable silence like that. Lance standing in the ankle deep water, Keith settled just out of arm’s reach, munching on the apple. It was sort of disappointing when Keith finally reached the center and finished. 

“You can just toss it in the ocean. Apples are all natural.” Lance offered politely.

Keith glanced up at him curiously before settling the apple core into the water and watching the waves pull it away with silent interest.

“Alright. So, I guess if I’m going to help you, I should get to know you a bit.” Lance squatted carefully. “No more making me fall on my ass though, please.”

Keith huffed out air, in what was probably meant to be a laugh. 

“Don’t laugh at me.” Wagging a finger at the siren, he couldn’t help but smile. “Right. So. Where to start? Keith… did Shiro name you?”

The siren shrugged. 

“You don’t know. Okay. Um. Is Shirogane the only human who visits you?”

A pause. Keith’s gaze turned up to the sky like he was trying to think. And then, he shook his head and held up three fingers.

“Three humans visit you? Three humans, plus Shirogane, or just three, including Shirogane?” 

The three fingers remained the same. 

“Okay. Three, including Shirogane. Does Shirogane know about the others?”

Keith nodded without hesitation this time.

“Do you know any merfolk?”

A shake of the head.

“You’re alone here?”

A nod.

“Damn… I’ll be honest, this area doesn’t even seem like Siren territory.” Lance straightened up, looking out at the ocean. “Not enough rocks… too much sand. I wonder how you got here. Did Shirogane find you near here?”

Keith nodded again.

“Huh.” Lance pulled out his phone, suddenly remembering that it might have gotten wet when he’d tumbled into the water. Luckily, it turned on. And then he saw the time. “Oh… I should get lunch.” 

Abruptly, Keith moved forward and grabbed Lance’s ankle and tugged lightly. 

“What?” Glancing down at the siren, Lance raised an eyebrow. 

There was something pleading in the siren’s violet eyes. Something that whispered _I don’t want to be alone_. 

Lance felt his heart melt a little and he clutched his hand over his chest instinctively. “I’ll come back. I promise.” He smiled reassuringly at the siren. “Shirogane and I are going to come talk to you again this evening.”

Keith let out a breath that sounded something like a sigh and slipped backwards into the water.

“Okay… fine… I’ll try to come back after I eat.” Lance said, trying to look resigned. But his heart was stuttering with excitement that the siren wanted him to come back. He really was screwed. 

The siren’s face lit up at that promise. And then he turned and slipped back into the water, away from the beach that was growing more crowded with people coming to have lunch or pass a couple hours on the sand. 

Lance’s hand was up and waving at the retreating siren before he could think about it and he turned away from the water quickly to try to cover his growing embarrassment. It hit him like a ton of bricks when he reached the boardwalk. He’d felt these things before… twice. This couldn’t end well for him. Rubbing a hand over his chest, where the subtle tug was already building itself again, he prayed he was mistaken about this feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Granny Smith Apples tho.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is late, Keith is mad. But Lance comes bearing gifts, so maybe Keith can forgive him.
> 
> tw: brief emotional breakdown/panic attack

The siren did _not_ look impressed when Lance came back two and a half hours later. 

If Keith was being honest, he was really furious about being left alone for so long when Lance had promised to come back soon. Laying in the shallows, he folded his arms in front of him, like Shiro did when he was disappointed with Keith. He wheeled out his _I am so disappointed in you_ scowl and kept it in place as the lanky silhouette made its way down the beach. 

When Lance was finally close enough that Keith could see his face clearly, the siren noticed that Lance was carrying plastic bags. His scowl wavered for just a moment, before he pasted it back on. He was _not_ going to forgive the Liar for being late just because he’d brought something with him.

“Look… okay… I know I’m late.” The Liar started, apparently intelligent enough to not miss that Keith was miffed with him. “But… I didn’t mean to be! I saw this bookstore on my way back from lunch and got to thinking... look!” Out of one of the bags, he produced what Keith recognized as a book. Then, he was dropping the bags up on the sand and wading into the water carefully to show Keith the book. _American Sign Language for Dummies._ Keith felt his scowl drop… probably into an expression that conveyed the surprise he was feeling. “Oh… can… can you read?” The Liar suddenly seemed to realize that maybe growing up in the ocean would inhibit learning to read. How lucky for him that Keith had been raised by Shiro and _could_ read. 

Nodding, Keith let himself slip a little closer, inhaling the rich scent of the non-human standing before him. It was such a puzzle. Lance’s smell frustrated him. With the distinct coppery-warmth of human smell missing from his scent, Keith could tell Lance wasn’t human. But, he couldn’t place _what_ Lance _was_. The man had so many smells on him to start with. Rich overtones of coconut and mint and something chemical that was probably human body product couldn’t hide the underlying richness of smell that was so distinctly _Lance_ that it made Keith’s senses feel fried. It was… sweet and soft… with something sort of salty and alluring underneath. Unfortunately, Keith had never met another person with a salty and alluring undertone to their smell. And he couldn’t exactly smell himself to compare. Which left him grasping at threads of possibilities without any idea how to put the puzzle that was Lance together.

Then, Lance turned back to the beach, and Keith slid back, glaring at the retreating figure. He’d just gotten here, where was he going now? “I also brought something for you. Ever seen a Rubik’s Cube?” 

Keith gave Lance an exasperated look. Did he really think Keith had some kind of stash of human stuff somewhere? Aside from a few laminated pages that Shiro had given him when he learned to read, he didn’t really have many possessions. Least of all _human_ possessions. 

“I will take that as a no.” Lance said, spotting the look Keith had sent his way. “Here.” He tossed a colorful object at Keith, who scrambled backwards to avoid being pegged in the face by whatever it was.

Lifting it out of the water, Keith studied the bizarre cube with curious eyes. Then, he glanced at Lance with an expression of confusion. Seriously, what _was_ this thing? 

“It’s a puzzle. You have to make all the sides match.” Explained the Liar with a wave of his hand before he sat down and opened up the book in his hand. 

Briefly, Keith scowled at Lance for abandoning him to this… puzzle. But, begrudgingly, he started twisting the sides of the cube around to see how it worked. After he understood the _how_ of the cube, he set about trying to solve it. Because, Keith was not one to back down from a challenge. And a puzzle was a challenge. 

Even with his intense focus on the cube, he could see Lance in the edge of his vision. It was kind of distracting, the Liar’s hand moving occasionally into poor attempts at imitating signs from the book as he read. With his hands slowly moving to solve the cube, Keith let his mind turn over the puzzle of Lance. Clearly, he was pretending to be human in some form or another. Shiro seemed to at least believe Lance was human. But, even with Lance’s obvious familiarity with human customs and objects, Keith suspected that Lance was just as much a fish out of water among humans as Keith would be if he could walk on land. 

That thought set off a sense of _longing_ in Keith’s chest. He’d always wanted to go on land. Always wanted to follow Shiro into the world of humans to see what it was really like. But his own nature denied him that. Shiro had told him over and over that if he left the water he would dry out and die. So, he’d never left the shallows, always lingering on the edge of the water and wishing he could be more than _just_ a Siren. A stupid mute Siren. 

Glaring at the cube in his hands, Keith let the pace of his hands pick up. He wasn’t much closer to solving the cube, but he was beginning to get an idea about how to solve it. Left, up, right, down, down… line up some red here, arrange this blue part there… try to not think about how being mute absolutely was the worst thing to happen to a Siren. He was supposed to be a literal beacon of death. His fingers twisted faster as his anger built. Everyone knew, Sirens could use their voice to lure any human to their deaths. With just a voice, Keith could do so many things. Maybe if he had his voice, he wouldn’t be so goddamn alone. Maybe if he had a voice, he’d be able to find other Sirens. Maybe if he had a voice he’d be able to ask Lance why he felt drawn in like a moth to a flame to the blue-eyed man. Maybe. He threw the half completed puzzle at the sand near Lance’s feet and silently simmered at himself. Why was he so useless? _Why was he so damn useless?_

His vision blurred dangerously with tears. _Huh, apparently Sirens_ can _cry._ One hand came up to claw blindly at his throat, as if reopening the age old scar would _fix_ it. 

“Keith!” Lance’s voice rang in his ears. The sound of the man wading into the water echoing somewhere closer than Keith expected. “Keith?” Hands started pulling at his hands, trying to stop him from clawing his own throat open. “Keith, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Struggling against Lance’s hands, Keith strained violently, anger and anxiety pooling together into irrational fire.

He wanted to scream. _Letgoletgoletgoletgo!_ Panic shot through him and then he felt the water shifting behind him and a wave fell over them both and he felt the moment Lance jerked back, the moment his own gaze refocused just long enough to see the treacherous _blue_ on Lance’s arm. And then, Lance was hauling himself away from Keith, scrambling back on to the beach where he stumbled and fell into the dry sand, heaving up his lunch.

Keith suddenly felt cold and alone. The absence of Lance’s touch was far more jarring than the presence of it had been. That realization was enough to bring him back to reality. Lance had some kind of reaction to the water. There was a reason why Lance wouldn’t come into the water all the way. There was a reason why he only went in until the water was halfway up his calves and never further. 

Keith needed to know.

But Lance was now laying in the sand, trembling. The wind shifted, bringing with it the smell of vomit and sand and _Lance_. Such a violent reaction to the water… he’d never seen such a thing. He knew some humans disliked water. But those humans _avoided_ the water. Lance was a mermaid expert, apparently, and hadn’t seemed to dislike wading in the water. So why was he avoiding deep water? Why was he avoiding getting fully wet? Was he some kind of reverse mermaid? Like… if he got _too_ wet something bad would happen?

Finally… finally, Lance sat up and looked at him from the beach. “Sorry. I… are you okay now?” 

Reluctantly, Keith nodded. 

Lance sighed and seemed to relax at that. “Good… I thought… You scared me.” 

Keith let out his own silent sigh, and whatever Lance saw in his face, it must’ve been something like an apology, because he smiled softly. 

“It’ll be alright. You don’t have to feel sorry. I know… it must be hard.” He didn’t have to say it out loud. They both knew. A Siren without a voice… how can it not be hard? How can it not be painful? 

He closed his eyes to try to shut out the pain and anger welling up again.

“Do you want the cube again? You almost solved it.” 

Keith nodded silently and opened his eyes so he could catch it when Lance tossed it to him. And like that, they settled back into the way they’d been before. Keith fiddling silently with the cube while Lance read about sign language. 

When evening came and Lance picked up his bags, Keith presented him the solved cube. “Keep it.” Lance said softly. “It’s yours now.”

And Keith clutched the cube against his chest as he watched Lance walk away. Even if he knew rationally that Lance would come out on the boat with Shiro in a short while… he still felt like… Lance leaving made his very bones ache in longing. _Please don’t go. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaaaa, it's ya boi, Keith's POV. Finally.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge calls, Lance meets Allura, and they talk about mermaids.

Walking to meet Dr. Shirogane, Lance was so lost in thought he almost missed the sound of his phone ringing. Abruptly, he pulled it out and answered. “ _Sí_?”

“Laaaancey Lance.” A familiar voice singsonged on the other end. 

“Oh… Hello to you, too, Pidge.” Lance grumbled. 

He could picture Pidge’s scowl on the other end. “I take it you don’t miss me, yet.” 

“Nope. Not at all.” Shifting the phone to rest between his shoulder and ear, he stepped into Shirogane’s house and settled the plastic bags on the nearest surface. “Why would I miss you?”

Pidge huffed into the phone. “Because I’m your friend.” 

Lance managed to sound confused. “Really? Since when?” And then he laughed. “What do you want, Pidge? I have to meet the marine biologist to go talk to the Siren again with an actual capable translator. Unlike you, I cannot learn a language in one day.”

“Maybe you should have brought me with you.” Pidge suggested with a smug tone of voice. 

Rolling his eyes, Lance made sure front door was closed before grabbing the plastic bags again and shuffling to the guest bedroom. “Definitely not. You would try to put a needle in him before you even learned his name and then I’d have to run damage control after he murdered you.” 

“Okay… that’s probably true. But a mute Siren is pretty interesting… just saying.” 

“Yeah, but he’s not something to experiment on. He’s a person.” 

“... Lance. I know that tone of voice.” 

“What tone of voice?” His voice went shrill as he realized he’d been talking softly… almost fondly. Pidge was not the first person he wanted to know about his suspicions. 

“Oh my god. Lance. He’s another-!”

“Nope! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Lance shouted into the phone before she could finish her sentence. The sound of Shirogane’s car arriving was almost welcome. “I gotta go. Shirogane is arriving. Tell Sofia I’m going to call her later to talk.” And before Pidge could protest, he hung up on her. He could feel his phone buzz as Pidge was probably sending him profane and threatening texts in response to being hung up on, but he shoved it into his pocket and headed towards the front door. 

“Ready to go to the docks?” Shirogane asked as he stepped inside and set a bag on the counter.  
“Yeah. Totally.” 

Shirogane paused and looked at Lance. “You’re kinda… wet.”

Lance glanced down at his damp shoes and bit back a curse. “Oh yeah… I was at the beach with Keith earlier. Hanging out. Couldn’t really talk much… since I don’t understand sign language.”

“Oh. Well… anyway… I was going to ask if you minded if one of my colleagues came with us. Allura has worked a bit with Keith before and she really wanted to meet you.” 

“That’s not a problem.” Lance smiled, glad for the change in subject. He didn’t want to dwell on how he’d gotten wet and almost had his magic lose control in front of Keith. “I’m honored that one of your colleagues wants to meet me.” 

“Great.” Opening the door, Shirogane lead the way down towards the docks. “Honestly, Allura was a great help when it came to figuring out how to care for Keith as he’s gotten bigger. And she was the one who suggested teaching him sign language. She’s one of the few people he tolerates.” 

Lance watched the fond look on Shirogane’s face and wondered just what _kind_ of relationship he had with Allura. Sometimes he was jealous of humans and the way their relationships worked. But at the same time, he couldn’t imagine it. Having to stumble his way around half hoping to find someone who might like him back and be compatible at the same time. How would he even find the right person like that? No, thanks. “Sounds like my kind of person.” 

“There she is.” Shirogane picked up his pace and Lance hurried to match as they reached the docks. When they finally reached the white haired human on the dock, Lance found himself taken back by her beauty. Even in just a simple sundress, she was stunning. “Allura, this is Lance. Lance, this is my colleague, Allura.” 

Eagerly, Lance extended his hand and spoke as she shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine.” She had a lovely, British-sounding, accent. “Shirogane tells me you’re a mermaid expert?”

“Well… my mother’s facility in Cuba specializes in mermaids. So yeah… I’m as close to an expert as anyone can get.” Lance smiled.

Smiling back, Allura let Shirogane pass by to grab the full, lidded bucket and carry it to the boat. “I see. I thought merfolk were very… secretive.”

Walking side-by-side with Allura, Lance nodded. “Oh… don’t get me wrong. They’re very secretive. But they trust us at the facility. So, we have at least… a little more knowledge than your average human.” 

“Amazing. Shiro said the pod in Cuba is mostly Tropicals?” Allura’s eyes gleamed as she asked the question.

“Yes. With the warm water… it’s really an ideal habitat for a Tropical pod. So, they tend to interact the most with my mother’s facility. But, we have a couple non-Tropicals from time to time… especially around Autumn when the Nomads tend to pass through.”

Allura sighed, gaze growing distant. “I’ve always wanted to see a real Tropical… they’re supposed to be the most beautiful merfolk. Not that Keith isn’t beautiful to look at!” She started, suddenly looking nervous. “He gets touchy when I tell him that… but, his scales are just… really amazing.” 

It took all of Lance’s willpower to not preen and clamp his hands at his sides when Allura talked about Tropicals. “Yeah… Tropicals have the most vivid colors and decorative fins, usually.” He quickly plunged into the shift in topic to avoid being suspicious. “Crimson is honestly… kind of rare for a Siren. At least… I think it is. Sirens don’t really need to be flashy. They just need their voice to draw their prey in.” 

As they moved into the boat and settled down, Allura sat across from him and kept talking cheerfully. “There’s not that much information about Sirens… probably because they have a bad habit of killing humans. Especially in the past.”

“Well… that... and they’re reclusive. They stick to small pods.” Lance interjected.

“Yes… but that means when it comes to Keith, a lot of what we’ve done is guess work. The poor thing had to suffer through all kinds of food tests and all of our trial and error until we could figure out how to care for him properly.” Allura laughed softly. “But, I think he’s forgiven most of it. Though… he still hasn’t forgiven Coran for some of the things he tried to use to clean his scales when he was shedding his baby scales.” 

“Oh… do I even want to know what you put on his scales?” He could imagine all kinds of horror scenarios of humans trying to tend to scales without any idea what they were doing.

“Probably not.” Allura admitted. “He survived it… but, like I said… he’s not forgiven Coran. Then again, a full body rash isn’t something I would easily forgive either. He was pretty miserable.”

Lance blanched. “What did you put on him to give him a _full body rash_?!” 

“Honestly… something Coran mixed from like jellyfish and honey. If I remember correctly.”

“Oh my god, why would you put _Jellyfish_ on someone?!” Lance shouted. “They literally sting!”

Allura looked guilty. “Coran said it would work…” 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lance forced himself to take deep breaths. “I am never letting this Coran person near Keith while I’m around… just saying.” 

On cue, Keith appeared on Lance’s side of the boat and balanced himself so he could sign. _Please and thank you. I never want Coran to touch my scales again._ Which had both Allura and Shiro bursting into laughter when Lance started at the abrupt appearance of the Siren and let out a strangled shout. 

“Keith! You’re going to give me a heart attack like that.” Lance accused with a laugh.

Keith just smirked silently.

“Alright… so, I guess now is a good time for all of us to ask our burning questions?” Shiro asked.

“Fire away.” Lance said, flashing finger guns at Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, right, so next chapter is gonna be when I finally start revealing a bunch of the lore I made up for this. Like types of mermaids and mermaid culture and how some of their magic works.
> 
> Also for the curious [my tumblr](https://bookfishwrites.tumblr.com/). There's not much there that isn't reblogs, but maybe I'll start posting stuff there.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance tells Allura, Shiro, and Keith more about mermaids and magic...

Lance watched the trio exchange glances like they were trying to decide who would speak first. Clearly, they all had questions. Finally, they seemed to come to a silent agreement and Shiro spoke first.

“So… you said Keith was probably imprinted on me. You explained it a bit… but could you explain it again and how it works… just so we’re all on the same page?”

“Sure.” Keith was edging his way closer to Lance along the edge of the boat, but Lance elected to ignore him for now. “So when a mermaid is born, they tend to develop a special connection with whatever person they see first. Usually, mer-families elect to have one of the parents or older siblings present when the guppy opens their eyes the first time. Some of the families I know in the Cuban pod have most of the children imprinted on the mother… but some families prefer to spread the imprinting across the family so that the responsibilities of being imprinted on are shared around.” Keith’s elbow bumped into Lance’s shoulder, making Lance pause briefly, before continuing. “Like I explained before, imprinting is sort of a special family connection. And one of the few magical connections that a mermaid makes in their lifetime. They learn most of their behaviours and survival skills from the person they’re imprinted on. Hunting, den building… it’s really important that the person who was imprinted on is present and able to teach the guppy. Honestly… I’m kind of puzzled how Keith imprinted on you.” Scratching his head, Lance glanced at Keith. “I’ve heard of very young guppies re-imprinting if something happened to their original imprint… but that’s almost unheard of. Most mermaids with newborns are extra-reclusive and hyper-protective.” 

“So… is it possible Keith’s parents are alive?” Allura suddenly looked hopeful and interested. 

“I… I can’t fathom how a mermaid pair would just… misplace a guppy?” Lance grimaced at the idea. He’d seen mer-mothers go to extremes to keep anyone outside of their immediate family away from their guppies. A blind newborn guppy getting away from their mother? It never happened. Not in his experience. “I mean… I really don’t know. I don’t know many Sirens.” Keith didn’t seem troubled by the possibility that his parents might be dead, but then… he was imprinted on Shiro… it was likely he didn’t feel the absence of his parents in the way a human might. “How… big was Keith when you found him?”

Shiro gestured with his hands. “Like… this big?” Toddler-sized. 

Furrowing his brow, Lance found himself with more questions than answers with that information. “That’s definitely young… too young to survive alone.” 

“Um… so you mentioned imprinting is a magical connection. I’m not sure what you mean by that.” Allura jumped in, cutting off the heavy silence that had started to settle over them.

“Merfolk have magic…” Lance shrugged. “Or that’s what it’s called. It’s like… an unexplainable connection to the water? Usually it manifests as special abilities. But it also allows merfolk to form special connections. Like imprinting.” 

Allura looked excited. “What kinds of abilities?”

Lance reached to rub the back of his neck with one hand, careful not to bump Keith as he did. “It’s… complicated. Some abilities are limited to certain types of mermaid… while others are sort of random… but they’re all generally rare with only a few exceptions. Like… Sirens and their hypnotic voices, Deep Ocean mermaids with their dark vision or echolocation, Nomads with their internal compasses…”

“Are there really mermaids who can walk on land?” 

His throat closed for a moment, eyes widening ever so slightly. “What? No. Where did you hear of something like that?”

Suddenly, Allura looked disappointed. “I just… one of the websites I read about mermaids mentioned that it was a possibility.”

“Nope.” Lance managed to get out. “Definitely not. Not that I know of.” Keith swatted Lance on the shoulder, giving him an intense look that said he knew Lance was lying. Lance stared back defiantly. “If… if it’s possible, it’s probably secret.” He conceded finally, shifting his gaze to stare at his feet. “Merfolk have lots of secrets… so.” Gesturing loosely with one hand, he let them come to their own conclusions.

Shiro cut in, sparing Lance temporarily from the uncomfortable situation. “So… aside from imprinting… what kinds of connections are possible?”

Lance swallowed hard. “Mating bonds.” Just those words drew up memories he would rather forget. _Nyma. Plaxum._ Keith’s elbow jabbed into Lance’s shoulder, drawing his eyes to the Siren. God, why did Keith have such nice eyes? 

Keith’s hands flew, curling through a string of signs that Lance couldn’t follow. _What is a Mating Bond?_

Allura translated. “Keith wants to know about Mating Bonds? Honestly… I’ve never heard of them myself…”

“They’re one of the merfolk’s more closely kept secrets. Mostly because… they don’t know what humans would do with information about them.” Lance grimaced. “But… since Keith trusts both of you… I’ll trust you with the information. Just like… don’t go spreading it around.” When Shiro and Allura both nodded in agreement, Lance took a deep breath before plunging in. “Humans have dating and whatever… mermaids have Mating Bonds. There are multiple stages to the bond and it’s kind of complicated because it’s mostly an instinct driven thing. Most mermaids don’t even realize they’re in a bond until the bond clarifies… which can take a couple weeks. Um… it’s like… the magic inside the mermaids knows when they meet and determines they’re compatible partners and draws them together with their instincts.” Lance gestured slowly, starting with his fingers far apart and then bringing them together. “Except… until the bond solidifies… either half can walk away at any point. Because after it clarifies, if one half is unhappy with their partner… they can reject the bond. But… rejection is really…” _Painful_ “... difficult for the rejected half.” 

“Difficult how?” Shiro asked, leaning forward with a concerned expression.

“Like… it feels… it’s like…” Lance flinched when Keith put a protective hand over his shoulder and looked at him with something in his gaze that whispered _Who hurt you?_ , before he looked sharply away from Keith. “Because the bond is tied to the magic in the core of the mermaid… being rejected is like… being torn in half… physically and emotionally. It’s destructive. Most mermaids survive it fine… especially if they have the person they’re imprinted on to help them. But… multiple rejections can be deadly. Every time… it gets harder to survive and heal.” 

Allura looked horrified. Shiro looked like he was going to be sick. Keith just looked angry… and Lance couldn’t imagine why. Why would Keith be angry? A silence fell over them for a while before Shiro spoke.

“So… how does it work… if it’s not rejected?”

Lance managed a weak smile and settled his hands on his lap. “Well… when the two mermaids meet… they just start to act on instinct around each other. I don’t know about Sirens… but for Tropicals it’s a lot of gift giving… and trying to prove yourself worthy.” Like the apple… and Rubik’s Cube… and Sign Language book. “And um… after a few weeks of sort of dancing around each other… or less time if the bond is really strong or the halves realize what’s happened on their own… it clarifies. At which point, both halves realize for sure that the bond is there and are usually drawn to want to court each other. Swimming together, hunting together… just doing stuff together. Like dating.” Nyma’s face flashed in the back of his mind and he shoved it away. “At any point after the bond clarifies, one half or the other can reject it. But if they don’t… they can court for months or even years… before they solidify the bond. Which is… sort of complicated to explain and… I guess it’s like marriage? But the traditions and stuff are different?” Shrugging, he snuck at glance at Keith, who was paying him rapt attention again. “Once the bond is solidified… it’s for life. Mermaids are pretty hardcore monogamous.” 

After that, the conversation flowed easily into other topics. Questions about types of mermaid that Lance hadn’t ever met and only knew a little bit about. Arctics, Deep Ocean… he did his best of course… but even as an expert, he’d still not met every type of mermaid. Nobody could pay him enough to go up to the Arctic or down into the depths of the oceans just for a meet and greet. He was very happy in hot, sunny Cuba most of the year round and not in any rush to see the entire world. After they were done talking, Lance observed how they fed Keith, which apparently involved smuggling a mix of sushi and other foods in the bucket and letting him eat his fill. Lance turned down Keith’s silent offers to share the sushi. He might like fish, but he was not into sushi. 

It was a relief to get back to Shirogane’s house. While Allura and Shiro ordered pizza and settled in to watch the TV, Lance went to change into more comfortable clothes. Really, it was lucky he was in the guest room when his phone rang in his pocket. Hurrying to answer, he didn’t check the name, which meant he was not prepared for his sister’s shout in his ear. “YOU FOUND ANOTHER BOND?!” He dropped the phone in his surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy lore dump. Honestly, this chapter was tiring to write.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sofia is worried about Lance. Lance remembers his past bonds. Lance makes a choice.

For a moment, Lance could only stare at his phone sitting on the floor, listening to the distant sound of his sister’s shouting. Her words rang in his ears. _Another bond. Another bond. Another Bond._ Nyma’s eyes flashed through his mind. Plaxum’s scales flickered somewhere out of reach. Keith’s smirk danced before him as if Keith were truly there. Slumping to the floor, he forced himself to pick up the phone. 

“... you know you have to reject them! It will kill you if you don’t. Don’t gamble with your life like this, Lance. Are you listening to me?”

His heart was pounding in his ears. “This time it’s different, Sofia.” It was strange. His voice sounded so far away… even though he was still fully conscious. 

“Do you know that? You’ve only just met them.” Sofia warned. “You almost died last time, Lance. I barely kept you alive. Don’t you dare put your life on the line again.”

“Sofia…” 

“NO! Listen you dumb romantic. Plaxum was a nightmare…”

_They had been close since childhood. Friends. Sharing their similar blues and loud personalities like peculiar reflections of each other. When they had come of age and the bond had settled into their skin it had felt like second nature to just… fall in love and follow the Bond. Lance had never dreamed that she might not feel the same. Going from best friends to lovers had felt as easy as breathing for him._

_But it hadn’t been what Plaxum had wanted._

_“I just want my best friend back.” She had said. Her fingernails dug into the flesh of her arms as she looked at him with such a strange mix of pain and determination._

_“What?”_

_“I care about you. I do. I just… I don’t want to be with you. Like that.”_

_“I…” The rejection burned under his skin, the pain rose up inside so quickly he felt like he was going to get whiplash. “I see.” He had barely managed those words before pulling away. Everything after that was a blur. A blur of his bed, his tears, Sofia’s presence like an anchor, and the pain of his magic shredding itself and slowly healing._

“He isn’t Plaxum.” 

Sofia practically roared into the phone. “You don’t know that! You barely know him! Does he even know what a bond is? Does he even know about you? Lance, he’s a Siren, isn’t he?” Lance didn’t answer, the silence serving as an answer. “He’s not even a Tropical. You know how difficult cross-type bonds can be. And he’s not even used to normal mermaid life. How can you be sure he won’t burn you worse than Nyma did?”

_Nyma had been Complicated. Complicated with a capital “C”. Complicated and intoxicating from the start. It had been love at first sight. Lance hadn’t been able to say no to the golden scaled, blonde haired, magenta eyed freshwater mermaid. After the Bond had clarified… they had started courting. Everything had been perfect. He had lavished her with gifts and affection and declarations of his feelings… and she had never given him reason to think they wouldn’t eventually solidify the Bond._

_He had felt blindsided when she had wanted to talk. When the first words out of her mouth were. “Honestly, you’re just too human.”_

_“What?”_

_Her expression had been so cold, so bored. “I don’t know what you expect. You live half the time on land… doing human things. Following your stupid mother around with her stupid scientists.”_

_Lance had been offended. “My mother is doing important work. I’ve told you that. She’s trying to protect us from humans… from pollution… from disease.”_

_“Yes… by waltzing around on land pretending to be human.”_

_“I don’t… understand.” Most mermaids understood why what his mother was doing was important. Most understood why mermaids with a gift like hers and his had to go on land to fight for mermaids where other mermaids couldn’t._

_Nyma waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t know how anyone could be happy with a Landwalker. Always running off and expecting them to be waiting.”_

_“I…” He had never neglected her. She had never complained that she was neglected. Only once had he gone on a trip for two days… which was shorter than some of the hunting trips normal mermaids went on. Her complaints felt so unfounded and out of the blue._

_“The Nomad pod is coming in a week. I’m going to leave with them.” Nyma continued without hesitation._

_Lance could already feel his magic threatening to tear itself in half. “But…”_

_“I don’t want you.” She let the hammer drop… just like that. And just like that… it was over and he was being torn apart._

_“I wanted you.” He had whispered into the ocean after she left._

“He’s not Nyma.” Lance protested softly. His heart was aching from the memories. His bones were aching from the feeling of knowing his new bond was _so close_ but not close enough. “He’s… I just…”

“You should reject him.”

“I won’t.” The words came out harder than he’d intended. But the determination and fire was alight inside of him all the same. “I’m going to give him a chance.”

Sofia fell silent. But he could imagine her scowl and fury, the way her brow was probably knitted tightly together and her lips were pursed as she tried to not yell at him again. Her voice was broken when she spoke again, hurting. “Lance… I can’t lose you.” 

“I know.” He murmured into the phone. “I know…” 

A silence hung between them for a long while before Sofia spoke again. “Are you going to tell him?”

Lance glanced at the window of the bedroom, turning the idea over in his mind. “Wouldn’t it be better to let it clarify naturally?”

“Lance… if you’re already this attached… it might clarify early on its own anyway.” 

It was true. He was already attached. Too attached. And somehow… he suspected that Keith wasn’t entirely in the dark. Something about the way those violet eyes watched him… made him feel transparent. “I really think this one is different. I think he’s… I think he’s going to be the right one. It scares me… but… he’s…”

Sofia sighed. “Lance… you should follow your instincts. But… please be careful.”

“Yeah… yeah… I’ll be… careful.” He glanced at the window again. “I’m going to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. Don’t tell... don’t say anything to Mamá yet. I need time.”

“Okay.” She sounded tired… and he couldn’t blame her. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.” He let his finger trail over the symbol to hang up before tossing the phone on the bed. There was an urgency inside him that wouldn’t let him delay.

When Shiro came to call Lance to dinner… all he found was the cellphone abandoned on the bed and the bedroom window sitting open letting the salt air flow into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourselves because Chapter 8 is coming sooooon. Also some stuff will be on [my tumblr](https://bookfishwrites.tumblr.com/) soon for you guys, too. :D 
> 
> And I'm officially setting the goal of 20 chapters. Which is to say... I am going to aim to get this story to an ending by 20 chapters give or take a few chapters. I've seen some fics with like 60+ and that is just... too much for me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith contemplates the Bond and his Song. Lance comes to find him.

Everything in Keith was still vibrating with energy, even though he was settled into his cave and trying to convince himself to sleep. It was easier to just keep turning over the Rubik’s Cube in his hands, despite being unable to see the colors of the sides. His brain was churning. Bonds. It made sense. He might have been clueless when it came to most things, but not his own feelings. He wasn’t blind to the way he was drawn to Lance… Lance smelled nice, and even if he lied a lot, he seemed like a good person. Keith wanted… well, he wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted. It was tangled up in a web of things he could do, couldn’t do and didn’t know much about. 

What he knew for sure… ever since he’d first seen Lance… he’d felt something he’d never felt before. The aching lack of ability to let the song inside him out. It was frustrating. It felt like having the ocean _inside_ him. And it wanted to come out. As soon as Lance had started talking about Bonds, he’d understood. Sirens sang to their Bonds. And he couldn’t sing.

It made him feel heavy with his own disappointment. 

“Keith!” The sound of his voice carrying through the water drew him into a sitting position. Tipping his head, he listened. “Keith!” It was far away… so it was hard to be sure who was calling to him by sound alone. But… somehow he knew the answer anyway. Lance. 

Slowly, he slipped to the entrance of his small cave and inhaled. Aside from the distant smell of boats that had passed by a while ago… there were few scents of interest in the water. But then, his cave wasn’t the best spot for picking up smells anyway. So, he slipped out into the dark water and followed the sandy bottom to where he knew the currents would drag more smells in. If he was good at one thing, it was tracking smells. It was how he knew when boats were nearby or not. How he tracked whether or not the beach was particularly busy with humans or not. How he knew the number of sharks in the area. How he knew to hide if a foreign smell was particularly strong in the water. From this vantage point, of sorts, he could smell Lance. Richer than he’d ever smelled him above water. And he could tell which direction Lance was. Lance was in the water this time… far from the beach. Swimming.

“Keith!” His voice was still far, which meant, Keith could sneak up on him if he wanted. 

It was simple enough, following the currents with care to make sure his smell was always being pushed away from Lance and not towards him. He kept low to the sand and used rocks and seaweed and coral to his advantage, lurking where his crimson scales wouldn’t catch light. Unfortunately for Lance… while Keith was good at blending in the dark… Lance was a literal beacon. Keith had never seen anything like it. Lance literally… had glowing scales. From his hiding place, Keith could watch him. Watch the way his frilly tail moved as he swam and the currents tugged the side fins this way and that. He could see the speckles of darker blue scales against bright blue scales mixed with speckles of aqua scales that were actually... glowing. If he had a voice, he probably would’ve made a strangled noise in his surprise… but he couldn’t make any sound. He could only gape in silent wonder. Because… _Wow_. 

Then, Lance turned, and he was rendered even more in awe. He had some of the glowing scales speckled over his cheeks like freckles, making his blue eyes shimmer in the dark. “Keith?” Lance had stopped shouting. Seemed aware of being watched. 

Keith shrank backwards into his hiding place, almost afraid of following his instincts now. As if he might somehow sully the literal glow of the other merman. After all… he was broken. A siren who couldn’t sing for his bond. 

Lance was moving slower now, twisting around as if he were searching for Keith, but his eyes passed over where Keith was hiding without pausing. “Is someone there?” The way he twisted in turned set something off in Keith… it was like… dancing. 

It hit him like lightning. He had only been half interested the one time that Shiro had tried to introduce him to some kind of music that involved human dancing as part of the visuals. Naturally, as a Siren, he’d liked the music and the sounds that came from Shiro’s phone or radio. A normal Siren would be able to reproduce those sounds. Keith… was just stuck listening and itching for more. But now… watching Lance twist around in the water… Keith knew exactly why humans liked dancing. It was music… without sound. 

He could feel his song inside of him, pounding silently. If he could just… there was no point in hesitating. He shot at Lance faster than the lankier, brighter colored merman could react.

“Keith!” Lance looked startled when Keith grasped his wrists and then delighted. “I was looking for you.” 

But Keith didn’t care about that. He needed to show Lance. Needed to give Lance something to show him… he felt the bond, too. He hesitated. Now that he had Lance’s attention, had those shimmering eyes on him, he was nervous. Slowly, he moved his hands along Lance’s arms and then to his shoulders, trying to find the right spot to guide Lance from. No. Not the shoulders. Down. Carefully, he let his hands slide down the sides of Lance’s torso, watching as the other merman seemed to forget whatever he’d wanted to say to Keith and instead paid rapt attention to Keith’s face and trembled under Keith’s hands on his bare skin. Keith found Lance’s waist and settled his hands firmly there. Here. He met Lance’s eyes, could see the question in them. Smiled. And then tugged Lance with him gently. 

They started slow, gliding through the water as a pair. Keith’s tail swirling soft patterns around Lance’s tail that almost resembled a melody. Their hearts were the drumbeat, pounding wildly in a simultaneous race of excitement and anxiety. Then, Keith pulled them into a gentle loop, swirling around each other like a verse of a song. Pulled Lance up and around him in a circle with the soundless song. Followed the motion into his own sweeping circle over Lance’s head and then curling around to face him again. Infrequently, his hands moved from Lance’s waist to touch out the silent notes of the harmony. The chorus was soft, curling his tail around Lance’s and pulling him close enough that their chests touched briefly. And the next verse was quick again, a series of loops and curls that had them both panting softly as they settled into the slower rhythm that was the ending chorus. 

Keith knew what he wanted as they finished the song. He could feel the want pounding in his blood. 

Lance barely had the time to whisper in wonder. “What was that?”

And then Keith was catching his face between his pale hands. Soft fingers running over Lance’s glowing freckles as his eyes traced imaginary constellations in them… he knew what he wanted. He could feel his fingers tremble as Lance wrapped long arms around him and pulled him closer so that their chests were pressed tightly together. Their eyes met, blue on violet, full of uncertainty and desire. 

“Keith?” Lance sounded so… reverent. His blue eyes were so soft… so full of… something Keith couldn’t quite name.

Keith swept in before he could second guess himself again and pressed his lips against Lance’s. He could see Lance’s eyes blow wide before he closed his own eyes instinctively. He didn’t want to see… he wanted to feel. Lance went stiff for a second, fingernails digging softly into Keith’s back. But before Keith could pull back and wonder if he’d been wrong, Lance’s hand came up and caught the back of his head and his lips pressed in a little more firmly against Keith’s. It wasn’t enough. Keith pushed in further, moving his lips slightly in a silent demand. _More_

And Lance gave him more. It was hot. It was soft. Lips tangled together. Tongues met shyly. Hands drifted over skin and scales indiscriminately. Keith felt more alive than he’d ever felt in his entire life. He could feel Lance’s heartbeat under his hands, racing wildly. Lance’s fingers tangled through his hair and tugged gently, pulling a silent groan from Keith that vibrated through his chest and into Lance who echoed with a moan out loud. 

When they finally pulled apart, it felt like everything had fallen into place. And he knew. The bond had clarified. He could feel Lance in a way he hadn’t before. A surprising warmth nestled in his chest that was holding him right there… pressed closely to Lance. 

“... Oops.” Lance whispered. His eyes were still glazed with desire, but he also looked… like someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Keith smirked and ran a finger over Lance’s lower lip gently as if to say. _I don’t regret it_. And then, he kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy really late Valentine's Day? 
> 
> You can see my best attempt at drawing their tails on [my tumblr](https://bookfishwrites.tumblr.com/post/175527674002).


End file.
